Tough Target

Grandmother Aims At Ban On Assault-style Weapons

June 04, 1995|By Elsa C. Arnett, Knight-Ridder/Tribune.

WASHINGTON — Marion Hammer hoisted a .22 bolt-action, single-shot rifle against her shoulder, wrapped her trembling finger around the cool metal trigger and aimed at the tomato cans lined up on the wood fence post.

It was her first time shooting a gun. She was 5 years old.

"I remember seeing a great big red tomato right on the front of that can. And on my first shot, I drilled that tomato dead center," she said proudly.

"From that point on, I knew shooting was my sport."

Fifty-one years after that afternoon on a rural South Carolina farm, Hammer has her sights on a much harder target: persuading Congress to repeal the ban on assault-style weapons, passed last year.

In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Congress appears reluctant to hear from the tough-talking, chain-smoking 56-year-old grandmother who is in line to become president of the powerful National Rifle Association next year.

Currently executive director of Unified Sportsmen of Florida, a gun lobbying group in Tallahassee, Hammer remains undaunted by the challenge ahead and the withering fire directed at the NRA by groups in favor of gun control.

These groups contend that the 124-year-old organization must subdue the fanaticism its provocative mailings, advertisements and meetings sometimes generate.

"There is a growing recognition that the language and overheated rhetoric from the NRA has helped fan the flames of these gun extremists, and the danger is that it validates the views of this extreme fringe and creates a climate where blowing up a building is considered an act of patriotism," said Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, a gun-control group in Washington.

He cited as an example a recent NRA-sponsored national advertising blitz demonizing federal law-enforcement agents.

Even longtime gun ally Sen. Bob Dole (R.-Kan.) has called on the NRA to tone down its rhetoric.

So will Hammer, who gave her two newborn grandsons lifetime NRA memberships and commemorative collectors' BB guns, be the NRA leader to pacify militant gun fanatics? Not likely.

"We are on the front line of the fight for freedom," said Hammer, who has thick brown bangs, piercing steel-blue eyes and rarely cracks a smile.

"These are distressing times when we are witnessing an erosion of freedom and a denial of liberty that sends ripples of chills throughout this nation."

While Hammer denounced the Oklahoma City bombing, she said most militia groups operate within the law and she is enraged that "gun banners and gun haters are trying to capitalize on this tragedy to infringe on Second Amendment rights."

To those embroiled in the gun-control battle in Florida, Hammer's uncompromising attitude is familiar.

"She's not a back-slapping, glad-handing type. She's very businesslike, and she's very good at what she does," said Bo Johnson, a gun-control opponent and former speaker of the state House of Representatives.

Hammer gives a hard sell: She speaks in a stern, unassailable tone, presents her position bluntly, lays out an exhaustive amount of documentation and relies on words such as "freedom," "liberty," "rights," "Constitution" and "American."

Whether she's responding to questions at a congressional hearing, at a lecture or from reporters, Hammer rarely pauses in her answers because she never wavers from her position.

Since she began nearly 30 years ago as a volunteer and eventually a paid lobbyist, Hammer has managed to shoot down almost every state gun-control proposal, including last year's bill to ban some types of assault weapons and this year's bill aimed at giving local government authorization to ban gun shows.

Hammer, who has her own arsenal of guns, maintains that gun control will not curtail crime; only more prisons and tougher sentencing will.

"Gun control is an abomination and an insult to law-abiding citizens because when you take away guns from law-abiding people, you make them vulnerable to the devious acts of those who can continue to find ways to possess them," said Hammer, who is 4 feet 11 inches tall but an intimidating presence with a deep, penetrating voice.

Her supporters praise that unyielding, offensive style. But her detractors call it obstinate, single-minded and unconstructive.

"If you get into a debate with Marion, she'll challenge your manhood and your patriotism, but she won't actually debate the issue," said Arthur Hayhoe, president of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence.

Instead, Hayhoe said, Hammer and the NRA prefer to rely on scare tactics and misleading information that incite their supporters and create an atmosphere of paranoia.

Hammer is not rattled by criticism. Instead, she reinforces her point of view by offering real-life experiences.

For example, Hammer recounts a late night at the office about a decade ago when she was crossing Monroe Street to get to the city garage when six men in a beatup sedan crept along side her.